Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1887-06-07
JEDGE WAXEM ABROAD.
THE WAYsAcK CONGRESSMAN TELLS
ABOUT PLYMOUTH. .~

toms Oficer-In' an English Hotel.
Something of the History of the
Ancient Town of Plymouth.
Especial Correspondence
PLYMOUTH, Eng, May 16.
In my last letter to your valuable journal,
which was also the first, believe stopped
writing just as Mandy and me sot foot on the
soil that has been growing crowns and thorns
fer hundreds of years, and we was SO glad to
be once more on the ground that we wasn't
very pertickerler what it growed. We went
direct to the custom house, where, for the
first time in my experience, a representative
of monarchy laid his hands on my property.
with the power to do with it purity much as
he pleased. Mandy was looking little
skeered as they yanked our baggage around
and like to tore hole in my favorite carpet
sack, but l encouraged her by telling her
that congressman had some rights which even
a minion of Il foreign potentate was COM
PEELED to respect.
"His that luggage yours, sir?" says a man
in a last years uniform to me.
ain course it is" says to him. "Don't you
see my name, Wabash Q. Waxem, NJ C.
from Wayback, wrote on the end of ita"
"'Ow wor Hi to know your name, sir?"
says he, sort of apologizing
~ am a member of congress- sir, from
Wayback," says l, drawing myself up
"DId you say that you was Hamerican con-
gresham, sir!" says he after he had finished
mis- examination.
Certainly did, says I, feeling my OATS
"Har you sure" says he, looking mean.
aft / amt, why amt IL" says l, getting
fred up and answering equivocal.
There's no arm, 'ope, STRIP says he aBut
Hi are failed to find hany whisky or tobacco
l,.1x~ l.
finds them, sir, in Hamerican congressnans
luggages.r 49,
Before our baggage was fairly tied up
again couple of truckmen had tackled it,
and, ordering them to take it to the Duke of
Cornwall hotel, Mandy and me followed
along afoot. 1t wasn't far, and besides we
felt so good to be on the ground that we
would have walked if it had been four miles
over a dirt road. When settled for bring
ing up the baggage the scoundrels charged
me three shillin's seventy five cents and
took an appeal.
ats too much," says to the boss.
"Hit's little enough, sir" says he, "for
pushin' them trunks hup this ill, and times his
very ard ere. SIR"
"Well, that's no business of mine" SAYS l.
II amt running your country, and / didn't
come out here to make times better A con-
gresham on 5000 a yer, and no perquisites,
amt expected to regenerate the whole of
Great Britain on one trip, is he!"
They didn't try to answer my remarks, but
they insisted three shillin's, and Mandy
came to the front.
"Did you make contract?" says she in
business like way.
"Of course didn't" says I, sheepish.
"Then pay the bill, says she, "and charge
one shilling for baggage and two shilliugs for
your lack of gumption," and that case was
ettled.
What I'd do without Mandy would be hard
10 say.
We went on into the Office and woman
met us.
"Air you the landladyl"I asst, taking off
NY hat, though thought it mighty funny if
fine hotel like that was run by woman.
She smiled on me tell l almost wished
Mandy was at home, and said she was the
clerk, and saw | had made a mist AXE but I
never let on and asst for a room as eff | had
been used to that style all my life She give
US one at IS. Cd. (eighty-four cents a day on
| the second floor, and we started for it, / in
quired where the elevator was, and was IT,
formed they didn't keep one in the house and
we had ~ climb the stairs. When we rot
there at last l took cheer to rest, ana l
looked at Mandy.
as this the second fioor" asked her.
81 suppose So" says she; ''but reckon they
commence to count from the roof down. and
she was right
Eighty four cents a day wasn't much,
| though, for much style, and we didn't
complain. As soon as our baggage was
brought up, and we We're left by ourselves
We began to compare our first English hotel
with the American brand, and we found that
as far as ''home comforts" was concerned one
was just about as good as 'tother We had
halc al
The etseterys we had in Washington or New
York, and right away began TO feel that
England wasn't as bad as had thought for.
We got our eating in the hotel, too, but that
was charged extry, and good deal extry it
seemed to me before got done with it.
For twelve mortal days on the boat I
hadn't seen a newspaper or heard a bit of
news, and l was mighty anxious to know
what was going on in Ameriky, so | got a
plymouth paper, as big as a table cloth, and
looked for American news. Up ono column
and down another looked, till the last, and
the only thing could find was an advertise
nent saying that the Hon. jefferson Davis
late president of the c. S. A., heartily rec
commended somebody's patent medicine or
something throwed the durn sheet out of
the winder, and reflected upon the columns
of foreign matters in American papers, and
what comfort they must be to foreigners
hungry HeNs OHi tnelF ndIlNe lan0S.
/ took Plymouth as a landing place because
I remembered that the Pilgrim Fathers had
sailed from there in the Mayfiower, and they
give our own country such start. Then
Mandy's folks was Of Puritan breed, and l
thought it would compliment her to stop
there fust
That took in my knowledge of the place,
hut learned after we had walked over the
town and read up little on it, that it wasn't
no SLOUGH in the history of our mother
country.
The city gets its name from being built at
the mouth of the River Plym, and it is a very
old place, fairy tales being told of giants
fighting there ilc0 B, c. Some of the houses
look like they was built the spring before
that. it is made up of the three towns of
Plymouth, Stonehouse and Devonport, and
has about 80 600 population. 1t is a business
place, great shipping point and a naval
rendezvous, and its pet name is the "Metrop-
oils OF the West" ! reckon the town is
about 600 years old.
l went first to the city buildings and